Monday, January 23, 2017

One of the regulars of the Big Book catalogs in the 60s and 70s was Wendy Hill. I've been meaning to do a K Club special (1) post oh her for some time now. However, for one reason or another I keep putting it off.

Well that has to change today! Not only was Wendy a regular, but she was a good friend of Kathey (as well as a lot of the other models at the time.)

Yep, you know ho she is now. Wendy had a very long modeling career that lasted well into teh 70s. (2)

Very nice! (2) This post is going to be long on pics and short on commentary. I'm going to let the pics do the talking!

"Everyone know it's Wendy...." I wonder if the song was written with her in mind! (2)

Wendy with Cay Sanderson (2)

Hey wait a moment. Isn't that the almost identical pose as above??

A late 60s Penneys pic! (2)

Wendy with Colleen and Cay Sanderson. (2)

A classic pic of Wendy and Colleen.

One reason why I may have been putting off a K Club special on Wendy is that I simply have not been able to find any pics of her with Kathy! So we'll just have to wait until next week for some more Kathy pics. For now, it;s all Wendy.

Looks like Kay is channeling Princess Leia here!

"Pert and Pretty" Yep, when in doubt, go with the mini skirts!

Or the long look like here!

Nobody seems too excited here?!?

Colleen with Wendy from 1978! (3)

And another pic from 1978. (3)

Back to the minis! (3)

A final pic of Wendy!

footnotes:

(1) For our new readers, the K Club Specials is where we feature on model and her career.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Okay I know that to venture anywhere near the political arena in the current highly charged atmosphere is playing with fire, but hear me out. I'm not talking about MAGA. I'm talking about MUGA - Make Uniforms Great Again!

"Were uniforms ever great?" you may ask. Well in the words of one former VP candidate: "You Betcha!"

And for proof, look no further than "Bandana Americana." Yep I feel the greatness returning to our fair land already! These awesome uniforms make the hills bloom and the skies bright and sunny........Well, at least here in this obviously fake background they do!!

"But I don't want to wear a puffy shirt!" Hey what's this with the "Authentic English Tudor Look?" Well I guess that we're making uniforms great again on both sides of the Atlantic!

"But I don't want to wear a puffy hat!" No matter, the fields are still green and the skies bright blue and......the background is still fake. Is that like fake news??

Traditional uniforms made great again! MUGA baby!

Hmmm, the guy with the 70s porn 'stache is leering at Kay who seems to be bravely trudging on as professionally as possible. How is this making uniforms great again is beyond me!

Oh boy, this post is going downhill fast! Now 70s porn 'stache guy is moving in on Laura. You can almost hear her say through gritted teeth "Don't. Touch. Me."

Well at least this guy lost the 'satche. What is it about these guys in this catalog? (1)

"The hills are alive with......The New Western Look uniforms from S&H????"

Okay this is just bizarre. At first glance, it's just your normal lab uniforms. You know, standard stuff. That just will NOT do for this groovy S&H catalog. No, no, no!! So they had to throw in the fake background of a park and a vial of fake blood (at least let's hope that it's fake!). Like I said, bizarre.

Now let's not forget about our nation's manufacturing centers! S&H has you covered with the Ms Gear line. Except that the metal hardhats are, ahem, not allowed anymore. No matter! We're making those uniforms great again also!!

Oh dear, now we have the, ahem, "hospitality" collection. I'm thinking that those uniforms are pretty great already!

Yee haw, ride 'em cowboy! I do believe that we have indeed made uniforms great again!!

And to think that when I did my first post on 70s uniforms I thought that it was a "one off." That is, there wasn't enough material for any other posts on the subject. Boy was I wrong I should have believed in MUGA!!

Okay, okay, we may have "jumped the shark" here. There's no way these unis can be considered "Great Again!"

footnotes:

(1) I've had several readers inquire as to the identity of this model. She was quite popular in the early 80s. if anyone has any idea who she is, it would be most appreciated!

Monday, January 9, 2017

Editor's note: The following is a part of a continuing conversation between a man who came of age in the 70s and his grandson.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey Grandpa, it's one week into the new year. How are those New Year resolutions coming along ? Ya know, the ones about loosing weight and getting into shape."

"Well, son, uh, well......Don't you have some new video games to play or something? Anyway getting into shape these days isn't as much fun as it used to be when I was your age."

"Why's that, Grandpa? "

"Well, because back in the 70s and 80s, we had lots of neat-oo exercise stuff we could buy from the Big Book catalogs! Let's take a look......"

"Jogging was really big back then. I mean everyone did it. And those groovy catalogs had all the gear that one needed - right down to the stylish athletic shoes!"

"Wow Grandpa, with great looking gals like Kathy in short-shorts, no wonder you liked to jog! Still it's too cold outside right now to take up jogging." (1)

"Ah son, you're not getting off THAT easy. After all, those Big Books were chalk full of indoor aerobic equipment like this state of the art, high tech treadmill."

"Or this high tech indoor bike, complete with electronic controls."

"Did it come with Bluetooth like the Pelotron bike that mom got for Christmas this year?"

"Ahhh, no. And how many times do I have to explain to you that there was no such thing as the internet back then. Anyway back to the exercise gear!"

"Hey Grandpa, what's with the belt machine and the wooden roller thing?"

"Well son, just like today, people were always looking for a shortcut when it came to taking those pounds off."

"Ha, ha, Grandpa, laying down while pedaling is about as lame as you can get!"

"I stand corrected. Hey Grandpa, didn't they lift back in those days? That's what I'm into - getting ripped."

"Well son, you're in luck...."

"Your complete home gym from Sears!"

"With sturdy and adjustable weight bench to hit all those muscle groups. They even had celebrity endorsements in those catalogs....""

"Hey Grandpa isn't that Caitlin Jenner before the operation???"

"Who knew back then, let's move on. Perhaps we need to cleanse our minds with some nice, safe pics of dance wear from the 70s."

"People did ballet for exercise?!? That's pretty weird Grandpa."

"Well, with good looking gals like Kathy and Karen, perhaps it wasn't so weird after all!"

"One thing to keep in mind is that people back then were more interested in looking good than anything else. Getting in shape was just a side benefit.

"A tanning light from Sears?!? Grandpa, I don't think that was such a good idea."

"Probably not son. But those Big Book catalogs had everything you needed to look good. They even had personal use items to unwind from a hard workout."

"For example, a 'Pedle-Dedle' for him and a.....well a.....Oh boy, this is awkward."